Alexander Pechursky Explained

Played For:Metallurg Magnitogorsk
Pittsburgh Penguins
Amur Khabarovsk
Position:Goaltender
Catches:Left
Height Ft:6
Height In:0
Weight Lb:183
Birth Date:1990 6, df=yes
Birth Place:Magnitogorsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Draft:150th overall
Draft Year:2008
Draft Team:Pittsburgh Penguins
Career Start:2007
Career End:2020

Alexander Alekseevich Pechursky (Russian: Александр Алексеевич Печурский) (born 4 June 1990) is a Russian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He most recently played for Metallurg Novokuznetsk of the Supreme Hockey League (VHL). Pechurskiy was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins 150th overall in the 5th round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. He played one game for the Penguins in 2010. Pechursky then played in the Central Hockey League before returning to Russia.

Playing career

Pechurskiy began his professional career with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Russian Superleague in 2007–08, playing in 26 games and posting a 2.07 goals against average. He played for Team Russia at the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships with a 3.06 GAA and a .8854 save percentage, while Russia earned a silver medal.[1] A month later in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Perchurskiy was selected 150th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fifth round.

He began the 2009–10 season with Magnitogorsk, but after requesting a release, joined the Tri-City Americans of the major junior Western Hockey League in the United States in December 2009.[2]

On 16 January 2010 Pechurskiy signed an amateur try-out contract with the Penguins due to injuries to starter Marc-André Fleury and back-up Brent Johnson. That night he was to serve as a back-up to the Penguins' third goalie John Curry against the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place.[3] At the time of his signing, Pechurskiy had a 4–1–1 record, with a 1.84 goals against average, a .936 save percentage, and two shutouts in the WHL.[4] After Curry allowed five goals against the Canucks, Pechurskiy entered in relief and became the first Russian goaltender to play for the Penguins. He played the final 35:31 of the game, making 12 saves on 13 shots, and earned the third star of the game.[5] This effort by Pechurskiy tallied him a 0.923 save percentage and a 1.69 goals against average. After the game, Pechurskiy spoke with teammates and media through translations by Ukrainian Ruslan Fedotenko, and Russians Evgeni Malkin[6] and Sergei Gonchar.

Pechurskiy started the 2010–11 season going 2–0–1 with the Americans.[7] On 14 October 2010, the Tri-City Americans announced that they had waived Pechurskiy because of the WHL's mandated limit on overaged players (he was 20 years old at the time).[8]

On 12 November 2010, Pechurskiy signed a contract with the Mississippi RiverKings of the Central Hockey League and began playing regularly for the team.[9] On 25 January 2011, he was signed to a Professional Tryout (PTO) contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.[10] Pechurskiy did not make any appearances with the team, and was released from his contract on 31 January 2011 to return to the River Kings.[11]

On 6 June 2011, Pechurskiy returned to his native Russia, securing a contract in a return with Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

Career statistics

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGP W L OTL MIN GA SV%GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2007–08Metallurg MagnitogorskRUS-327 62
2007–08Metallurg MagnitogorskRSL1 1 0 0 0.00
2008–09Metallurg MagnitogorskRUS-320 54
2009–10Stalnye LisyMHL5 4 1 0 299 14 0 2.81 .917
2009–10Metallurg MagnitogorskKHL1 0 0 0 30 3 0 6.00 .571
2009–10Tri-City AmericansWHL27 13 10 1 1403 61 4 2.61 .9127 1 2 305 15 0 2.95 .909
2009–10Pittsburgh PenguinsNHL1 0 0 0 36 1 0 1.67 .923
2010–11Tri-City AmericansWHL3 2 0 1 184 11 0 3.60 .861
2010–11Mississippi RiverKingsCHL37 17 14 2 2030 103 1 3.04 .8945 2 3 3.45 .874
2011–12Stalnye LisyMHL18 13 2 2 1024 38 1 2.23 .92211 7 4 587 25 0 2.55 .919
2011–12Metallurg MagnitogorskKHL5 0 2 0 259 11 0 2.55 .914
2011–12Titan KlinVHL12 7 2 2 699 27 0 2.32 .923
2012–13Yuzhny Ural OrskVHL35 22 11 2 2062 63 5 1.83 .935
2013–14Metallurg MagnitogorskKHL7 3 1 1 272 11 0 2.42 .9131 0 0 14 2 0 8.46 .600
2014–15Metallurg MagnitogorskKHL9 2 6 0 400 16 0 2.40 .910
2014–15Amur KhabarovskKHL14 2 8 1 703 41 0 3.50 .893
2015–16Amur KhabarovskKHL18 6 7 2 936 30 1 1.92 .936
2016–17Amur KhabarovskKHL9 0 3 3 257 15 0 3.50 .874
2017–18Tsen Tou JilinVHL38 17 14 0 1944 81 3 2.50 .910
2018–19Torpedo Ust-KamenogorskVHL32 13 16 2 1752 69 0 2.36 .917
2018–19Altay-Torpedo Ust-KamenogorskKAZ1 2.03 .909
2019–20Metallurg NovokuznetskVHL11 4 4 2 595 33 0 3.33 .892
KHL totals63 13 27 7 2858 127 1 2.67 .9101 0 0 14 2 0 8.46 .600
NHL totals1 0 0 0 36 1 0 1.67 .923

International

YearTeamEventGP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2007RussiaU183 1 0 0 77 5 0 3.92 .861
2008RussiaU185 4 1 0 216 11 0 3.06 .885
Junior totals8 5 1 0 293 16 0 3.28 .879

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alexander Pechurski . Hockey's Future . 21 August 2008 . 6 December 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081202171806/http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/alexander_pechurski. 2 December 2008 . live.
  2. News: Highly-touted Russian goalie joins Ams . https://archive.today/20120913184335/http://www.tri-cityherald.com/1012/story/841149.html . dead . 13 September 2012 . Tri-City Herald . 24 December 2009 . 28 December 2009 .
  3. News: Fleury likely won't play tonight . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Shelly . Anderson . 16 January 2010.
  4. http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=513857 Penguins Sign Pechurski to One-Game Try Out – Pittsburgh Penguins – News
  5. http://www.nhl.com/ice/boxscore.htm?id=2009020718 NHL.com – Game Boxscore – NHL.com – Game Boxscore
  6. http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=513863 Penguins Report: Game Day at Vancouver – Pittsburgh Penguins – Penguins Report
  7. Web site: RiverKings Sign Pechurskiy, Place Sterling on IR . Bob Bakken . Riverkings.com . 11 November 2010 . 14 November 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110715190536/http://www.riverkings.com/news/index.html?article_id=2554 . 15 July 2011 .
  8. Web site: Americans Trade for Stebner from Hitmen; Release Brown, Pechurskiy, Kardashev; Reassign Guenther . OurSportsCentral.com . 14 October 2010. 14 November 2010.
  9. Web site: riverkings.com: Roster . 23 December 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110715190558/http://www.riverkings.com/team/roster/index.html?player_id=142 . 15 July 2011 . dead .
  10. Web site: Penguins Sign Goaltender Alexander Pechurskiy to PTO. Pittsburgh Penguins . PittsburghPenguins.com . 25 January 2011 . 28 February 2011.
  11. Web site: All-Star Game Post-Game 1/31 . Jonathan Bombulie . citizensvoice.com . 31 January 2011 . 28 February 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110708155501/http://blogs.citizensvoice.com/penguins/?p=3597 . 8 July 2011 .